The Sweetest Thing
by BlueRose430
Summary: 18 year old Marinette and Adrien. It's just fluff


"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking...we have arrived in Paris slightly ahead of schedule, it is a...crisp autumn evening, lovely weather, approximately 9:02 pm local time, _Au revoir,_ and thank you for flying with AirFrance."

Adrien Agreste kept his head down, fully aware of how suspicious he looked. It was his first time flying commercial, and so far he'd managed to go the whole flight without being recognized. Grabbing his bag from underneath his seat, he managed to make his way through the line of people exiting his flight, quickly making his way to the transport area. Moving past the line of sleek black limousines parked in a row, Adrien continued to hide his face as best as he could until he finally reached his next destination: an unassuming, yellow cab.

"Where to?"

Adrien looked around, making sure he hadn't been noticed, then quietly gave her the address and slipped inside the cab.

* * *

"_AHHHHH!"_

_Adrien jolted upright, heaving the heavy breaths of one who'd been shot straight from dreams into being fully awake. _

"_Bad dream?" The tiny creature who had suddenly found himself flying through the air when his master had woken up with a start asked with a tone of bemusement. _

"_No...good one. Really good one. Have I ever told you about the Ladybug dream again, where I'm chasing her over the rooftops but can never catch up?"_

"_...Once, or twice." Plagg replied, rolling his eyes at yet another mention of the "Ladybug dream"._

"_Tonight was different...I actually caught up with her."_

"_Adrien," Plagg cringed, "I'm going to need a very large piece of camembert if you're going to share how this story ends."_

"_Nothing happened, Plagg! Well...nothing like that! I took her hand, and she finally turned around to face me…"_

_Plagg sighed. All the camembert in the world wasn't worth sitting through this story._

"_...but it wasn't Ladybug."_

_The kwami's ears perked up. Adrien's story had finally got interesting._

"_Huh?"_

"_Her face was clear as day, but it wasn't Ladybug."_

"_Wellllllllll...was it at least somebody you know?"_

"_Yeah…" Adrien replied, absentmindedly thumbing through his phone, finally settling on a photo he'd taken about six months ago._

"_Marinette. It was Marinette..."_

* * *

"You're in an awful hurry to get somewhere, young man. You know that one of those limos back at the airport would have gotten you back into town much quicker? After all, they can use the express lanes..."

"Yeah, I'm...familiar with them. I'm just trying to keep things a little more low key than usual for this trip."

"Low key?" The driver asked, a tone of suspicion creeping into her voice, "What are you famous or something -" Out of curiosity, the driver looked backwards to her passenger, finally getting a close look at his face. "- OH MY GOD, YOU'RE ADRIEN AGRE-"

"SHHHHHHH! _YES YES YES_, Adrien Agreste, always happy to meet a fan - but I'm somewhat off the radar for a few days and I would _really_ like to stay that way."

"But I thought you were in London for fashion week - ?"

"And I will do _anything_ to make sure people keep thinking that, I will take selfies, I will sign anything, I would even give you all the cash I have on me if you just _please_ keep this to yourself."

Adrien had never found himself needing to beg for anything in his life, but there was only person in the entire city of Paris that he wanted to know he was back in town early, and the last thing he needed was his father, Chloe or *shudder* _Lila_ catching wind of his return. If he had been able to, he would almost certainly have been pleading on his knees by now.

The cab driver frowned. "Well...you seem nice enough. You must have a pretty good reason for all this sneaking around."

Adrien smiled, his eyes looking out the window towards the familiar Paris skyline.

"Yes...yes, she is."

* * *

"_So...you're Chat Noir?"_

_Alya frowned, struggling to follow what Adrien was telling her._

"_No! No...no, in my dream I was Chat Noir. I was following Ladybug over rooftops, it's...a dream that I frequently have…"_

_Adrien nervously scratched the back of his head, sheepishly looking away from his friends._

"_Well...I finally caught up with her this time, but when I saw her face it wasn't Ladybug. It was Marinette."_

_Adrien paused for a moment, anticipating a reaction from his friends. None came, so he continued with his train of thought._

_"And ever since then, I just can't stop thinking about her, and...well, I think I have a crush on her."_

_Adrien sat back in his chair, taking a deep breath - and still not getting any reaction from Aly or Nino._

"_Really? Nothing?"_

_His friends couldn't help but smile._

"_We're happy for you!" Alya said, "It's just kind of been a long time coming, after all, heaven knows she's been crazy about you for years now."_

"_She is?! Really?!" Adrien practically leapt out of his chair, "Oh my god, oh my god, I have to go talk to her!"_

"_Adrien! Wait up! Adrien!" Alya groaned, Adrien had run off before she could share the rest of the news about Marinette. _

"_Well", she sighed, "he's going to find out soon enough."_

* * *

_Twenty minutes later, Adrien nervously ran his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth in front of Marinette's house. _

_As he anxiously twirled a single red rose through his fingers, he suddenly heard a familiar pair of voices steadily growing closer. _

_He froze. Marinette was just around the corner - but she clearly wasn't alone._

"_I had a really lovely day with you Luka, that band you recommended was amazing!"_

_Marinette rounded the corner - hand in hand with Luka Couffain._

"_So did I, Marinette! But the real question is...when can I see you again?"_

_Marinette smiled, standing up on her tiptoes to give Luka a quick peck on the cheek._

_Adrien's heart sunk._

"_Tomorrow. And all the tomorrows that you'd like." _

* * *

"Here?"

A confused frown crossed the cab drivers face. With all the trouble he was going to, she would have thought the famous Adrien Agreste would be sneaking off to somewhere much more glamorous than a simple pastry shop.

"Yep, this is it!"

"You must really miss the sweets back home."

Adrien smiled as he opened the door of the shop.

"You could say that."

_Ding_. The bell above the bakery's door jingled, loud enough that it could be heard all the way at the back of the shop.

"Hi!" A familiar voice called out from the back of the shop, "Sorry, we're just about to close up but I'll take a few euros off whatever you…" Her voice trailed off as she walked through the door, nearly dropping the mixing bowl under her arm.

"A-ADRIEN!?"

A soft smile crossed Adrien's face.

"Surprise."

* * *

"_Sorry…"_

_Once again, Adrien sat across the table from two of his best friends, but this time he was slumped forward with his head in his hands._

"_We tried to tell you man, but you just ran off before we could say anything."_

"_So...what do we do? About her and Luka?"_

_Alya frowned. "We don't __**do**_ _anything. It's her life, she can date who she wants._

"_...So what do __**I **__do?"_

"_You keep on being the best friend you can be to her, support her, be happy for her, and as long as she's with Luka you keep your goddamn mouth shut about any feelings you may or may not have."_

"_-And if you can't do that," Nino cut in, "for the love of God stay away from her."_

"_Nino-"_

"_No, Alya, you might not want to tell him but he needs to hear this: Marinette held a candle for you for the better part of two years, it's taken a lot for her to even get to the point that she said yes to just one date with Luka, and now this is the happiest she's been in ages. How do you think it would go if all of a sudden you come out and say you have a thing for her?" Nino sighed, "Look man, I'm not trying to beat you up too much, you're probably my best friend in the entire world, but it's not fair to anyone if you're anything other than 100% supportive of her. Not to you, not to Luka, not to us, and certainly not to her."_

_Adrien fell silent._

_Nino shrugged, sharing a worried glance with his long-time girlfriend._

"_We're always here for you man, just...please try to not to make things difficult."_

* * *

"WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING. HERE. YOU'RE. SUPPOSED. TO. BE. IN. LONDON. FOR. ANOTHER. WEEK!"

Each of Marinette's words were punctuated by a swing of her wooden spoon, forcing Adrien to quickly throw up his hands in self defense.

"I'm sorry! _I'm sorry! _Turns out, they only needed me for a few days and they let me have the rest of my scheduled time for whatever I wanted to do! And...well...the only thing I wanted to do was see you so I came on the first flight I could."

"And you didn't think to call me!?"

"I wanted to surprise you! I thought you'd be happy to see me!"

Marinette sighed with a mixture of frustration and relief, "I am happy to see you! Very happy! It's just...been a very long week since you got on the plane; after our conversation in the airport...I wanted more than anything to buy a ticket on the spot for a later flight and meet you in London. But it was a very important show for you and my parents needed me at the bakery and I just missed you and was frustrated that I couldn't be with you and talk about..._us_ and when I get frustrated I bake and…well…"

Marinette gestured to the walls of the shop as her voice trailed off, Adrien suddenly finding himself fighting back a laugh of disbelief. Every shelf of her parent's bakery was absolutely _crammed_ with boxes upon boxes of homemade sweets. There were even boxes having to be stashed in the corners and starting to pile up on the bakery's floor. She had to have made about a month's worth of treats in just a matter of days.

"I...I was only gone for a week…"

Adrien quickly scurried backwards against the wall as Marinette brandished her spoon once again with a furious glint in her eyes.

"You _finally_ admitted that you had feelings for me, only to hop onto a plane to London for a week, I have made over 40 batches of macarons, 40 batches of cupcakes, 7 _different_ layer cakes, my parents had to restock the shop two weeks ahead of schedule AND they decided to take the week off, ALL BECAUSE I was trying to not lose my mind and hop on a plane to London and you think you can just come back a week early, sweep me off my feet and I'll just drop everything so we can talk about whether or not we're going to actually start dating!?"

Adrien grinned nervously, running his fingers through his air and inching backwards from the wooden spoon held about an inch from his nose.

"Well, _Mr. Agreste_...I am _extremely_ busy right now. I have not burned a _single_ thing in this kitchen in over 4 years and as God is my witness, I am _not_ going to start burning them now."

Adrien gulped. He had never seen Marinette looking cuter in her life, with her dark hair in a simple bun and a crisp white apron over a plain, black dress that emphasized just how tiny she was. But with one hand on her hips, the other brandishing a wooden spoon right in his face and her eyes gleaming with what he couldn't tell was mischievousness or just plain fury, he found himself torn between feeling lovestruck and _terrified_.

"Uhhhhhhhhh…"

"We can have that conversation..._after_ the rest of these sweets are done."

Adrien sighed with relief. She might still be mad, but at least Marinette still wanted to have...the talk.

"Alright, we'll talk once we're done baking everything."

"...We?"

"I'm not due back home until the end of the week, if we don't get to talk until these pastries are done, well...time to roll up my sleeves."

Marinette pursed her lips, folding her arms across her chest. Her foot tapped anxiously as she pondered what to do.

"Alright, Agreste. Grab an apron, and you do _exactly _what I tell you to do, _exactly_ when I tell you to do it. When you're in my kitchen, I _own_ you."

Adrien grinned, grabbing an apron off the rack and quickly tying it behind his back

"Alright boss...I'm yours to do with as you please."

* * *

_That year had been the longest of Adrien's life._

_Adrien had thought he was familiar with heartache. After all, how long had it been that he'd been pining after Ladybug to no avail?_

_What an idiot he'd been._

_It all came down to the nature of the beast. Ladybug had always been somewhat of a fantasy; Marinette was __**real**__._

_It had taken some help from Alya and Nino, but he'd been able to put his feelings aside, even as they only grew stronger over the course of the year. It wasn't easy, but it had been worth it. Not only did the two of them grow closer than ever, but Adrien could now say with confidence that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was someone he truly wanted to be with. It may have only served to make his situation that much more painful, but it least it was good to know. _

_If getting over Ladybug was the first sign that he was growing up, learning to be the friend that Marinette needed was certainly the second._

_But now, it had been a month since she had broken up with him, having found out the hard way that life on tour just wasn't something she wanted, no matter who it was for._

"_Adrien...Adrien?"_

_Adrien shot upright at the gentle tap on his shoulder, having been lost in thought for the better part of ten minutes. _

"_So, are you gonna ask Marinette out or what? It's been over a month since they broke up, _

"_You think she's ready? It's not too soon? She's not going to think I was just waiting around for them to break up or anything?_

"_Yes," Alya reassured him, gently patted his hand, "It's time, Adrien. Make your move."_

"_Thank you, Alya," Adrien smiled, "It'll be the first thing I do when I get back."_

"_Get back? Get back from what?"_

"_Don't you remember? I have to leave this afternoon, I'm needed in London for fashion week. But like I said: first thing when I get back."_

_Nino and Alya exchanged a worried look, one that did not go unnoticed by their friend. _

"_Should I be worried about something?"_

"_Well...nothing for sure, but Luka's back in town tomorrow, he's all done touring with his band...and he wants to talk to Marinette."_

"_You don't think…"_

"_I don't know. But if I were you, I'd figure out something quick."_

* * *

By now, the air in the kitchen was practically feverish, filled with the sweet smell of perfect pastries.

"Adrien, help me finish prepping this macarons?"

"Sure! What's left to do, boss?"

"So," Marinette explained as quickly as she could, picking up the tray of shiny macaron shells she had just finished piping, "You've gotta tap them on the table to make sure you get all the air bubbles out. But not too hard, or they'll break, think you can take care of it for me?"

"Sure thing!" Adrien took the tray, gently tapping the tray on the table.

_TAP...TAP...TAP…_

"Careful, Adrien, you've got to be more gentle with them!"

_TAP...Tap...tap..._

"No, no, no!" Marinette sighed, "That's still too rough! Here!"

Marinette slipped in between Adrien and the tray, grabbing it so that their fingers were just barely touching as she settled comfortably into his arms.

"Now...nice and gentle, like _this_."

Adrien gulped, trying to hide the shiver that ran down his spine when their fingers touched. Following Marinette's lead, he gently started tapping the tray on the table, quickly falling into a steady rhythm.

_Tap...tap...tap…_

Adrien could have sworn Marinette could hear his heart pounding and was deliberately tapping the tray in time with it.

_Tap...tap...tap…_

"And...finished."

Marinette set the tray down and gently pulled Adrien's hands off of it, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Perfect! And now…" her voice softened… "we have to wait for them to settle."

Adrien froze, hardly able to breathe as Marinette's fingers crept up his arms and she slowly stood up on her tiptoes, her face suddenly mere inches from his own.

"And whatever shall we do while we wait…"

Her fingers crept up even farther, up the back of his neck until they were gently running through his hair.

Adrien's eyes closed. Marinette's face was close enough to his that he could feel her warm breath on his face.

_Is this really happening oh my god oh my god her lips are so close I can almost taste them_

_DING!_

Adrien's eyes shot open at the sound of the timer to see Marinette's nose wrinkled with a hint of laughter.

"Oh _darn_.." she grinned, perfectly feigning a tone of surprise, "I forgot all about the cake I already had in the oven!" The tiny girl quickly ducked back underneath Adrien's arms and strode over to the oven to fetch her cake, smirking the whole way over.

Adrien bit his lip, knowing perfectly well that there was exactly zero chance of Marinette Dupain-Cheng forgetting a cake in the oven. "So, you're going to play dirty? Alright Marinette...two can play at that game."

* * *

"_Adrien! The plane's leaving…" His agent tapped her foot impatiently; they'd been due to leave for London fifteen minutes ago. _

"_Come on, just five more minutes."_

_Adrien could not keep still, bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet and constantly looking back and forth from the runway to his phone._

"_Adrien, if we don't leave now we'll be late!"_

"_I know, I know, but...I just_

_**C'mon Marinette...**_

"_Adrien, get on the -"_

"_ADRIEN!"_

_At last, Adrien saw a dark haired blur racing towards him from down the runway. _

"_Marinette!"_

"_I came as fast as I could, it took me forever to get through security but you sounded anxious on the phone so -" Marinette paused mid-sentence to catch her breath. "You needed to tell me something?"_

_Adrien had no time to waste. "I...I have a crush on you, Marinette."_

_Marinette's head was spinning. She could hardly breathe, let alone say anything. Was Adrien __**finally**_ _confessing to her?_

"_I've been wanting to tell you for ages, and I was planning to tell you once I got back, but now that I know Luka's going to be back in town, I just...couldn't leave without telling you."_

"_-Adrien-"_

"_And I want you to be happy, and I know-"_

"_Adrien," Marinette put a finger to his lips as a single, happy tear ran down her cheek, "You have a plane to get on. But...talk to me when you get back."_

_She quickly leaned forward, planting a kiss on Adrien's cheek as she gently pushed him towards the staircase to his plane. _

"_I'll be waiting."_

* * *

"Oh. My. God."

Marinette's eyes quickly dropped to the floor as her cheeks quickly turned bright red. Adrien had excused himself for a minute, and now he stood in her kitchen, cheerfully mixing a bowl of frosting, wearing his apron and nothing else.

"Adrien...whattttttt's...this...all...about?"

"Oh, right...I spilled some flour all over me and had to throw my clothes in the wash, plus one of the characters in an anime I really liked tried this and it just seemed so..._comfortable_." Adrien made no effort to hide the devilish grin on his face, fully enjoying that it was finally Marinette's turn to be flustered.

"Isn't...that usually something that the girl does on one of those shows?"

"Well I'm sorry for being Mr. Equality over here, open your mind Marinette, it's the 21st century!"

Marinette shook her head at what had to have been the single most ridiculous thing she had ever heard, burying her face in her hands so Adrien couldn't see just how _red_ she was. Unable to help herself, she snuck a quick glance at Adrien, noticing to her relief that at least he was still wearing boxers.

"Don't we...uh...don't we still have to finish the frosting…?" Marinette groaned, silently cursing herself. It had been nearly two years since she'd stuttered around him.

"Frosting is mixed, just need to give it a taste!" Adrien cheerfully picked up the bowl, scooping up a fingerful of frosting to sample his handiwork. But before he could even get a taste, Marinette grabbed his wrist, and with a mischievous grin licked his finger clean.

"_I'm_ the baker here, _I'll_ be the one to tell you when it's ready."

Adrien dipped another finger into the bowl, this time silently preparing for Marinette's next attack. Sure enough, once again she leaned in to lick the frosting off his finger, but this time he quickly moved towards her, smearing frosting on her mouth and cheeks as she squeaked out of surprise.

Marinette giggled, "So _that's_ how it's going to be?"

Adrien leaned forward, a smirk of his own spreading across his face, "I see how it is, you can dish it out but you can't take it, is that right?"

"Oh, you are _asking _for it!"

In one swift motion, Marinette seized the bowl out of Adrien's hands, placed it on the counter, then threw him backwards with both hands, gently pinning him to the kitchen floor by his wrists and trapping him beneath her legs.

"I am _not_ nervous little fourteen year old Marinette anymore." Marinette said, a triumphant glint in her eye. "I know what I want, and I know _you_, Adrien Agreste. Probably better than you know yourself."

"Oh, _really_? Well then, _Marinette Dupain-Cheng_, why don't you enlighten me?"

"Well…" Marinette pursed her lips, "I know you're a bit of a neat freak."

"Oh, really?"

"_And_, I know you have an absolutely uncontrollable sweet tooth."

"So if I'm right...all this frosting on my face must be driving you just _absolutely crazy_…" She leaned in closer, her dark hair tumbling out of its bun and practically tickling his nose as his breath grew more and more frenetic.

"So here's my only question: what are you going to do about it, all the way down there?"

Marinette let go of Adrien's wrist, teasingly prodding him on the nose. It was all the opening he needed. Bracing himself against a nearby cupboard, he flipped the pair of them over, gently cradling Marinette's head so that it didn't crack against the floor. He leaned forward to try and smooch the frosting off her cheek, but she was too quick for him, giggling as he got a faceful of kitchen floor instead.

"Oh, now _you're _asking for it!"

Adrien grinned, quickly pushing himself upright and deftly scooping Marinette off the kitchen floor, gently cradling her in his arms. Something between a gasp and a giggle got caught in the back of Marinette's throat as she suddenly found herself resting against the chest she'd spent most of the evening sneaking glances at.

"So…", Adrien whispered, "everything's out of the oven, ready to have that talk?"

Marinette snuggled closer into his chest. Having been wound up for the better part of a week, talking was the last thing that she wanted to do, especially now that she was finally in Adrien's arms.

"Would you settle for just one word?"

Adrien lifted her up a little higher, resting his forehead against hers.

"That...would depend on the word."

With one hand resting on Adrien's shoulder and the other clutching the back of his hair, Marinette pulled herself up those last few precious inches to finally claim Adrien's lips.

Their first kiss was the sweetest thing either of them had ever experienced. Neither of them wanted it to end, and when it did they simply rested against one another, drinking in the warmth of each other's company.

"Marinette…" Adrien whispered, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"...There's still frosting on your face."

Marinette giggled once again; she couldn't help herself.

"Oh, is that it?"

"Well, you still haven't told me what that word was."

Marinette smiled, gently ruffling his hair.

"Yes, dummy...the word is yes."

It was the sweetest word he'd heard in all his life.


End file.
